Henry Cavill just wanted a faithful The Witcher adaptation but he got blamed for its failure.

Netflix’s The Witcher suffered from a tumultuous change after Henry Cavill decided to part ways with the franchise due to creative differences. Since then, fans have become less interested in the series causing major drop in the viewership.
Henry Cavill in The Witcher
Still, some fans point fingers at Cavill, blaming the actor for the demise of the once-promising show. People started criticizing the actor’s behavior towards his costars, but what about the writers’ deviation from the source material?

Henry Cavill Wanted A Faithful Adaptation, Now He Gets Slammed For The Witcher’s Failure

A netizen on X (Twitter) aired their frustration over Henry Cavill allegedly ruining The Witcher because of his brooding disposition. They claimed he never joined his costars at work.

“The Witcher aired in 2019 and we NEVER had funny behind the scenes compilations, never had heartfelt interactions mid promo. It was always Anya, Joey and Freya working together while HE chose to isolate himself and work alone. HE ruined Geralt AND the Witcher fam for 4 years.”

Cavill might as well be doing some method acting in there, keeping himself in character even between takes as Geralt of Rivia is known for being a lone wolf. Cavill revealed via Redanian Intelligence his concern about the show’s story deviating from the books.

“The toughest part for me was finding that balance between the showrunners’ vision and my love for the books, and trying to bring that Geralt to the showrunners’ vision. It’s about treading a fine line there.”

Henry Cavill in The Witcher
Cavill only wanted to make a show that both honors Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels and the Netflix series. In the end, he lost both when he decided to leave the project.

“It’s the showrunners’ story and so it’s an adaptation. The tricky bit for me was finding Geralt from the books’ place within that and being able to serve both as much as I could.”

It’s surprising that there are people who think Cavill was to blame for the fiasco when it could have been avoided had the writers chosen to stick to the books.

The Witcher Writers Allegedly Mocked The Source Material

Netflix’s The Witcher
Former The Witcher producer Beau DeMayo exposed the show’s writers on his Instagram Stories via The Direct and claimed some of them actively made fun of the novels.

“I’ve been on show – namely Witcher – where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games (even actively mocking the source material). It’s a recipe for disaster and bad morale. Fandom as a litmus test checks egos, and makes all the long nights worth it. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.”

He never revealed who he was referring to though it could be someone he previously worked with on the show since he also served as a writer on a couple of episodes for Seasons 1 and 2.

It’s disheartening to hear that a franchise so widely celebrated and followed by fans all around the world gets ridiculed by the same team tasked to bring the story to life.

All episodes of The Witcher are streaming on Netflix.